It's an amazing time once again to build a computer. Intel's "Ivy Bridge" CPUs alongside with the latest motherboards are the fastest and most compatible consumer components we've ever tested. There is native support for Thunderbolt, NVIDIA GeForce 6xx "Kepler" graphics cards, and Ivy Bridge in OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.

On the pro front, Apple hasn't updated their Mac Pro since 2010, but Intel's "Sandy Bridge-E/EP" has native kernel support. Socket 2011 CPUs are available in quad core, hexacore, and octacore (Sandy Bridge-EP Xeon only) options. Maximum RAM on single socket LGA-2011-based motherboards is 128 GB, making the platform ideal for tasks that need extra headroom. In comparison, Socket 1155 is capable of 32 GB of RAM. These no compromise supercomputers may never be fully optimized for power management, but they are the most powerful.

For maximum ease of use with tonymacx86.com guides and methods, we put together some general hardware recommendations. These might not be the only components that work, but based on our research they're the easiest and most supported options. Use these as a jumping off point or as a shopping list. You'll be supporting the site automatically if you get anything through these links, so thanks in advance!

Ivy Bridge CustoMac Budget Build

A powerful desktop build with budget-minded parts and no graphics card. This build contains a quad-core CPU, ATX form factor, and onboard graphics. The Intel HD 4000 graphics integrated into the Ivy Bridge CPus are now working with full acceleration with the Chimera bootloader.

These full sized ATX builds have quad-core CPUs, maxed out RAM, and lots of expandability. Well suited for any demanding uses. Each has few high-end graphics card options that work in OS X Mountain Lion.

One of the most important components in a custom build is the graphics card. If you're building a CustoMac, it's an especially tricky decision. Not only do you have to worry about what will be a good performer for the cost, but you also have to be informed about what is fully supported, and what is not. The following graphics card examples are all natively compatible without modifying drivers. Each gives a range of port options, install compatibility, and is known to work with minimal configuration. Furthermore, using the Chimera bootloader, it's now possible to use multiple NVIDIA cards in tandem- dual and triple cards are enabled by default.

We recommend these specific Gigabyte motherboards because of native power management support, network, and audio. They are the most compatible with OS X and are the easiest motherboards to get up and running for first time builders.

Choose a 1TB or less hard drive if planning to use Chimera/Chameleon as your bootloader. Also, choose 512B format drives. 4K advanced format drives will not work with the bootloader without workarounds. Note that this is only applicable for the boot drive, whereas your storage drive can be any size.